Old Fashioned Banana Bread

By Mary SusanCook 1 hr 5 min

This is my grandmother’s old banana bread recipe. It is denser than your traditional recipe which makes it unique and fun to try.

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The Story Behind the Banana Bread

Happy New Year! This last year of 2020 was a whirlwind. It seemed like such a long month back in March, and then all of a sudden it was December. I absolutely love the holidays, and we made sure to send this crazy year out with a bang.

banana bread with chocolate chips, sliced and stacked on the back of a cookie sheet, with glass of milk and bowl of chocolate chips in the background

A couple of years ago, we went back to Virginia to visit family. I enjoyed the time I got to spend over at my grandmother’s home. While I was there, I found her stash of recipes that were all handwritten on index cards and kept in recipe boxes. I read through them all and loved every second of it.

I begged to have all of the recipes. My grandmother said to go ahead and take them, but my mom didn’t want the inheritance to skip a generation. I asked quite a few times for them, and was told more than a few times from my mom to stop asking about it.

banana bread with chocolate chips, sliced on the back of a cookie sheet, with the slices falling over and chocolate chips and a glass of milk in the background

My mom shipped out some of our Christmas presents from Virginia, so I automatically knew they weren’t from Amazon. When a present showed up with my name on the tag, I hoped that it was my grandmother’s recipes. To my surprise it was! It was the first present I opened, and when I realized what it was, I cried. I loved seeing the recipes in my grandmother’s handwriting. Her cursive handwriting is so unique, and I just love it. This cookbook is especially sentimental since she can’t write very well anymore.

banana bread with chocolate chips sliced with slices falling over and bowl of chocolate chips and glass of milk in the background

Although the only thing I can remember her making is fried chicken, blue kool-aid, and macaroni and cheese. Despite my lack of memory, this gift is a treasure. A majority of the recipes call for margarine (gag!), but I’m going to try out as many of the recipes as I can with a few substitutions here and there.

Making my Grandmother’s Old Fashioned Banana Bread

We had so many bananas going bad this past week, that I landed on one of her banana bread recipes. Of course the recipe called for nuts, and I subbed it for chocolate chips because they just go with banana bread.

banana bread with chocolate chips, sliced and stacked with a hand pulling off the top slice

This banana bread was really dense and more like an actual bread which was interesting. It was a nice change from your typical sweet bread. I love things that are different, and this recipe is one of them.

If you’re looking for a healthier option (that’s also delicious!), try out my Banana Bread with Yogurt recipe, which is made with greek yogurt and Kodiak Cake mix for extra protein.

Recipe

Banana Bread

This is my grandmother’s old fashioned banana bread recipe. It is denser than your traditional recipe which makes it unique and fun to try.

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Cook: 1 hr 5 min

Instructions

1In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar.
2Add in egg and mix well.
3Add in milk and banana and mix until combined.
4Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well.
5Fold in chocolate chips or mix-in of choice.
6Let the batter rest for 20 minutes before baking.
7Pour batter in to a greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350° for 65-70 minutes.
8Since it's such a dense bread, it should take almost all the time. If the bread starts to get too dark, you can cover it with a piece of foil to finish out the baking.